The Truth behind ‘Work from Home’ – Challenges Encountered by this Young Mommy

I’m a bit used to ‘You are so lucky you work from home’ lines from different people – mostly from those who are working in the traditional offices. Well, I can’t deny the advantages of working from home. One, I don’t have to experience the traffic. Two, I can work without taking a shower first. Third, I can save a lot of money from not allocating budget for food and clothes. Four, for a young mom like me – working from home means spending more time with the kids.

But don’t get me wrong ok, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies. Working from home has its downside as well. While you think it’s all fun, I will share with you some of the challenges I face having my home as my office.

My Bed is Seducing Me

Oh gosh, if you think it’s hard to leave your beds to take a shower, it’s even harder to work knowing that your bed is just meters away from you. If you have tremendous discipline, you can work on your bed without turning your snooze button on. Otherwise, lock your bedroom (from the outside) and work in a more conducive area – like your living room if you don’t have your own office.

Long Queues – Government Bills

One of the perks of being employed in a more traditional work setup is that all your government bills are being managed by your HR. Most of the time, if you are working from home, you are employed by a foreign national living overseas, or you are like me – working on a freelance setup. Either way, they won’t do the payment on your behalf. Hence, you need to do it on your own. And yes, it can be time consuming to fall in line. Unless of course, there’s an online payment system which I can use. For now, I’m not yet convinced. 🙂

My Son ‘Accidentally’ Closed the File … I Haven’t Saved my Report!!!

I know that the CTRL + S function should be a mandatory task before leaving my desk, but there are few times that I wasn’t able to do it.

And what a stroke of luck I had – my son was already closing my files … one by one! Well, what can I say? Maybe, just put a note beside your computer/ laptop with this –  ‘SAVE FIRST BEFORE LEAVING YOUR DESK’ – make sure it’s BOLD.     

Aside from that specific scenario, it’s normal for me to work with my son pulling my hair, or my daughter sitting on my lap. Yes, it is cute. But if you are in a call with your boss, it’s best to just mute your device first. 🙂  Or lock yourself for a serene 10 minutes.

Oh, There Goes my Favorite Film on Star Movies

Now here’s another hard to resist temptation. If there’s something good on TV, I would automatically pause for a ‘quick’ break.

QUICK?? (rolling her eyes)

Before I know it, 2 hours have already passed. Holy cheese and rice!

And this is something that I’m REALLY trying to work on.

Wait, What? She’s Pregnant?

And since your home has become your office, you have very little social life. You only get ‘chismis’ from your online friends, or if someone posted a “We are Pregnant’ status on facebook. It’s not really a bad thing, but sometimes you become outdated. The good side, I have to push myself to watch CNN to keep myself informed. I try to stay away from showbiz talk shows because my facebook feed has enough of it!

There. I guess, that’s just about it. If you have something to add, place your comments.